What is holistic medicine, anyway?
Even with the publicity and press given lately to holistic forms of medicine such as acupuncture, chiropractic and herbal medicine, I am routinely asked the question, "What does holistic mean?" The word holistic stems from Holism which according to Webster's dictionary means 'the view that an organic or integrated whole has a reality independent of and greater than the sum of its parts'. Therefore, the primary focus of holistic medicine is how the tissues, organs and other bodily functions are performing in relationship to one another. In order to better understand holistic medicine it's helpful to see how it is different from conventional medicine.
Conventional medicine is reductionistic in nature, meaning to separate the whole into individual parts. This is the type of medicine which has been practiced in this country and other technologically advanced nations around the world over the last several hundred years. It relies heavily on science as its base and excels in emergency and trauma medicine and in situations where there is a specific, identifiable pathogen.
Conventional medicine emphasizes individual symptoms and specific diseases which are controlled through medications or surgery is performed to remove or correct the functioning of that specific tissue or organ. Often this can be corrective, but at times there are side effects. This is in part due to the lack of focus on how one parts affects the integrity of the whole system. Although there are many strengths to the conventional medical approach, it sometimes lacks satisfactory answers for diseases which are chronic or degenerative in nature. Conversely, this is one of the strengths of holistic medicine, which focuses on restoring balance to the system as a whole.
As a result of the different philosophical bases, holistic medicine and conventional medicine are practiced very differently. Marilyn Ferguson, author of The Aquarian Conspiracy summarized these in her book as follows:
| Assumption of Old Paradigm of Medicine |
Assumption of New Paradigm of Health |
|---|---|
| Treatment of symptoms | Search for patterns and causes, plus treatment of symptoms |
| Specialized | Integrated; concerned with the whole patient |
| Emphasis of efficiency | Emphasis on human values |
| Professional should be emotionally neutral | Professional's caring is a component of healing |
| Pain and disease are wholly negative | Pain and disease are information about internal disharmony |
| Primary intervention with drugs/surgery | Minimal intervention with "appropriate technology" combined with a full spectrum of non-invasive techniques |
| The body is seen as a machine | The body is seen as a dynamic system |
| Emphasis on elimination of symptoms or disease | Emphasis on achieving maximum wellness |
| Patient is in a dependant role | Patients should be autonomous |
| Professional is the authority | Professional is the therapeutic partner |
| Body and mind are separate | Body and mind are inter-related |
| Mind is secondary factor in organic illness | Mind is primary or coequal factor in all illness |
| Primary reliance on quantitative information | Primary reliance on qualitative information |
| Prevention mostly environmental: vitamins, rest, exercise, non-smoking, immunizations | Prevention equated with wholeness: work, relationships, goals—body, mind, spirit |
Both holistic and conventional medical approaches are essential to our health care system. However, if we are to create a type of medicine which is most responsive to the needs of future generations we must learn how to combine them to enhance their respective strengths and minimize the inherent weaknesses of each system.
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